World in Brief

Australia: reason to hope?

Atheist Foundation of Australia

An atheist website had such little interest in its global convention that it cancelled the event called ‘A Reason to Hope’.

The website said that ticket sales were substantially below expectations and below the levels for the previous two conventions.

Bolivia: repeal

World Watch Monitor

After much criticism, Bolivian president Evo Morales announced on 21 January that his government would repeal a law that seemed set to make evangelism a crime.

The new penal code, placed the ‘recruitment of persons for their participation in religious organisations or cults’ alongside recruitment for armed conflicts or sexual exploitation. The punishment would have been 7–12 years in prison. Catholic and Protestant church leaders protested, fearing it could lead eventually to evangelism being made a crime.

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